Lux Cassidy
Lux Cassidy is the daughter of Cate Cassidy and Nate 'Baze' Bazile. She was given up for adoption and found her birth parents whilst applying for emancipation. Though she orignially didn't want to be put back into their care she has adapted and in the end is thrilled that she is back with her parents. She is portrayed by American actress Brittany Robertson. The actress is usually credited as Britt Robertson. Early Life Lux was born in September 1993. After she was born, on the advice of her mother, Laverne, Cate put her up for adoption, unaware of the fact she had a congestive heart condition (atrial septal defect, a hole in the heart). This means that she had to go through a lot of expensive surgeries in her childhood, making her seemingly unadoptable because "the hospital bed isn't really a great selling point." During one of her times in the hospital, a nurse named her Lux (a Latin word meaning light). By the age of three, Lux finally becomes adoptable, but wasn't adopted because most families were looking for infants. Because of this she was bounced around foster homes her whole life, and many times the family was just looking for a paycheck from the foster care system and didn't really care anything for Lux. In some homes, she had even had to fight off sexual advances from some of her foster fathers, or physical abuse from some of the foster mothers, including being slammed into a wall at age five and the foster mother lying about it to a social worker by saying Lux fell off a swing. Lux's hard life in foster care and seven very terrible foster homes, made her completely self-reliant. One of her only comforts was a talk show called Morning Madness on the radio hosted by Cate Cassidy; she took comfort in listening even though she had no idea of her relationship with Cate. She never missed it, except when she was out of the area (Salem it was revealed in the pilot episode), and had specifically asked to be kept around the Portland area because of this. When she wasn't fostered out, she lived in a place called Sunnyvale Home for Girls, where the children in the foster care system lived until they were again fostered out or adopted. Lux described it to the man who would later become her stepfather, Ryan Thomas as "a holding cell until we were wanted." It was there, at age seven, that she met her best friend, Natasha Siviac and her long-time social worker and later family friend, Fern. When Lux was 12 she was put into the care of Valerie Gilbert whose husband, Trey mistreated and intimidated Lux into kissing him. He wanted more from Lux and threatened her if she didn't comply by saying he would take Lux away from Valerie. Lux did not say anything to Valerie since she wanted to be with her, until one day Lux had enough and hit Trey with a lamp. He then pushed Lux down the stairs when she tried to run away, which caused Lux to have a stroke (due to her heart condition). Lux developed dysgraphia, a learning disability, from this, along with abandonment issues and fears from her ordeal which she kept secret until Tasha's trial against the man for assault. Lux told Valerie the truth, only to find that Valerie would rather believe the lies that her husband told about Lux and she was shipped back to Sunnyvale. It is shown in a flashback that Lux still believed Cate would come back for her and when she was told it seemed unlikely, as 15 years had gone. It was at that point that she and her friend Natasha formed a plan to get emancipated and live with their boyfriends Gavin and Bug. Throughout The Series Season 1 At the beginning of the series premiere it is just before her 16th birthday, and she is trying to get her emancipation paperwork together so she can get out of the foster placement system. She hunts down her birth father (Baze) to get release forms signed, when she knocks on the door Baze, Math and Jaime think she is a girl scout selling cookies when she finally convinces them that she is Baze's daughter, Baze signs the paperwork right when Tracy (bazes girlfriend at the time) walks into the room baze tells her who her mom is and she is shocked when he tells her that her birth mother is Cate Cassidy, the host of the radio show she loves so much. Even while he signs the papers, Baze realizes he is beginning to bond with the daughter he never knew he had. Tracy than asked Baze why he was hiding a teenager behind his back and he tells her the truth. When the two show up at Lux's court hearing, the judge explains to Lux that no one would rent a jobless 16 year old an apartment, both birth parents jump up offering to co-sign for her. The judge then explains further that the release signatures were not notarized, therefore making them invalid, and instead (much to the surprise of the recently reunited trio) decides to grant Baze and Cate joint custody. After Baze and Cate sleep together Cate sees Lux outside of the Open Bar waiting for Baze, Cate then tells her that she will have a family. She celebrates her sixteenth birthday with Baze and Cate, as well as with Ryan, who was now her mom's fiance; and Matthew Rogers and Jamie, the two roommates of her father. Both Jamie and Math, as Matthew is called, become good friends to Lux. Because of her more substantial job and her more suitable house, Cate is the primary caregiver, although Lux visits Baze at his loft. Originally, Lux attended Longfellow High School, a very rough school where she had attended with Tasha, but not long after Cate gained custody of her, she was transferred, much to her dismay, to Westmonte High School, where her parents and Math had graduated. Cate had seen a news article at work about what happened and without telling Lux, transferred her to Westmonte. At first, she did not like the way it happened, but she eventually adapted and made some friends there. She later on meets her maternal grandmother, Laverne Cassidy as well as her aunt, Abby Cassidy and begins to bond with Baze's mother, Ellen Bazile during a dinner at her house. (She wasn't as close to Laverne as she is to Ellen, due to the former's come-on-strong tactics when she first met her.) However, she doesn't think highly of Jack Bazile, her paternal grandfather, but that changes, as he unbends towards her, and she begins to call him, "Gramps". Only once did Lux anger Baze, and that was during an illegal keg party. However, this shows that Baze himself is growing up, shaking off his semi-frat boy lifestyle, and is taking responsibility for raising a child. Despite that, her bond with Baze is the strongest of her two parents. After being released into Cate's care Lux spend 3 days sleeping on the sofa and though is thrilled to be back with her birth parents she gains doubts after her friends, Tasha and Gavin, and boyfriend, Bug, state it won't be long until she is chucked out again. However these fears are pushed aside when her parents meet her friends and allow her to be with them. Proof of that was Ryan and Cate fixing up the attic and making it into her own bedroom. Cate and Baze almost lose custody of Lux when they go to a meeting with Fern and the trio put on happy faces for the social worker who sees through the forced happiness. However, after a tearful Lux tells Cate how much she blames her for what happened to her during her years in foster care (which also included her revelation of an incident where she was slammed into a wall when she was five, and the foster mother lying about the incident to a social worker) and how Cate just gave her away to nothing and it didn't matter to her, Fern realizes that Baze and Cate were doing wonderfully as her parents, and doesn't take custody of Lux from them. She, in fact, begins the process to have Lux's parents become her parents officially. After several fits and starts, the three begin to bond as a real family, best revealed on a road trip they took to meet Cate's father, Grant. After that, Lux has them sign the papers which reinstates their parental rights, and Cate and Baze become her parents officially. In the season finale, Lux reassures Cate that Ryan will not quit on her like Baze has only to discover just when Cate marries Ryan that Baze was still in love with her. Season 2 Season Two finds Lux going on the honeymoon with her mom and Ryan. Upon her return, she is proposed to by her boyfriend, Bug. She turns him down, and he angrily leaves town. She almost loses her dad when he gets injured in a fire at his bar. He comforts her when she tells him that Bug is gone. Then she meets Eric Daniels, a newcomer to Portland, at her dad's bar. Only later is it revealed that Eric is her new teacher. Natasha now lives in her own apartment (she broke up with Gavin after what he had done to Bug) and is now a more frequent part of Lux and her family's life. In "Stand Taken" the truth about Lux's horrible past comes out, especially the abuse she endured at Trey Gilbert's home. An infuriated Jack and Baze attack the child molester for the pain and hurt he had inflicted on Lux. The revelations of what happened, helps with Natasha being cleared of assault charges, but was still convicted of misdemeanor charges, and for that was sent to juvenile hall for two months. Lux thanks Valerie for not doing anything while all this was happening as it led to her attempting to be emancipated and eventually finding her real mom. Eventually, her relationship with Eric is revealed, and he is ordered to leave town. After talking with Jones, she begins to repair her shattered relationships. She finally bonds with Cate after she finds out that she cannot have children after her miscarriage; and she finds comfort and celebrates with her dad, when she gets her license. Epilogue Two years after the season finale, Lux has graduated from Westmonte with Tasha (she had also transferred to Westmonte from Longfellow), having done exceedingly well, despite her academic setbacks (she was named Valedictorian), and is going off to college with her. (Both are slated to go to the University of Oregon in Eugene) She is currently dating Jones, who had liked her from the first instant that she set foot at Westmonte, and is now finally comfortable enough with them to start calling Baze and Cate "Mom and Dad". She is still close to Ryan. Math still maintains a presence in her life, along with his wife, Alice, who is her mother's best friend. She also has a good bond with her paternal grandparents, Jack and Ellen. Sadly, her maternal grandmother and aunt, Laverne and Abby, were not at the graduation, implying that her relationship with them wasn't as strong as it was with the Baziles, although she loved them and they loved her. Personality Lux has a very volatile personality, mostly due to her upbringing. She's very guarded, probably the result of never being adopted, leading to abandonment issues. She has a quick temper, however when happy she's very bubbly and outgoing. She's also very humorous alot of the time. Physical Appearance Lux is a girl in her late teens with long blonde hair, which she usually wears in soft curls. She gets her blonde hair from her paternal grandmother, since both her parents have brown hair. She has a light complexion and light blue eyes. She typically wears a lot of layers, something that has stuck throughout both seasons. However the rest of her style varies. Relationships * Cate: At first, Lux has a difficult relationship with Cate, blaming her for her hard past. Cate also unintentionally disappoints her constantly, which also lends some credence to her always turning to Baze, more than her. But as the series progresses she starts to turn to her more so as a mother, especially when she is hurt by certain situations. And she also turns to her mother, whenever she is afraid. In the last episode, she and Lux finally establish a bond, after she learns that Cate cannot have any more children, due to her miscarriage. Eventually she becomes more comfortable with her, and calls her Mom. * Baze: Lux's strongest relationship is with Baze. She tends to favor him over Cate, mostly because she blames her more for growing up in foster care. She forms a very close relationship with him from the outset, seeing him as more of a friend than a father, and the two are able to talk about many things. (Only once, did she breach Baze's trust, when she threw an illegal keg party in his loft, but they rebounded, maintaining a loving parent/child relationship.) While she does get angry with Baze, especially in the choices of whom he sleeps with (most notably her aunt Abby, and then her step-aunt Paige), their bond is firm enough to withstand the storm. In spite of his constant dating and his tendency to be a slacker, Baze tends to be the one who seems to be more up to the task of being a parent and comes through for Lux, with his support and love. In fact, Lux had always been more comfortable with Baze from the outset than she had been with Cate. She will turn to Baze when she is sad and upset and he is there to comfort her, provide her with that safe place she needs, and to protect her. In fact, he is shown to be quite protective of her (as noticed in the episode Stand Taken where he is visibily shaken as his daughter describes the abuse she endured at her former foster father's hands), and because of this, Baze settles down, matures, and tries his hardest to be there for his daughter. Lux finally calls him Dad in the last episode of the series. * Ryan: Lux forms a bond with Ryan, who seems to understand her feelings in a lot of ways. Ryan can usually get to the heart of the matter with her issues, especially when both Baze and Cate need him to get through to her (Though Baze tends to get through to Lux easier because of their bond, he sometimes does need Ryan's help). His parents were constantly fighting and are separated, and he understands the pain she is going through. He knows about her fears about him being an impediment to a happy family picture that she has with her mom and dad, but he respects her feelings enough that during a heart to heart that he has with her, he asks her blessing to marry Cate, because he wants to take her feelings into consideration. With that she unbends and he does marry Cate. During a thunderstorm, where they were stranded at the radio station, Lux opens up more to Ryan about her life, how she met Tasha and her life at Sunnyvale. * Jack: When it comes down Baze's father, Lux is shown to have a low opinion of him upon meeting him for the first time. She implies this when she tells him that Baze is twice the dad he is upon their first meeting, while she uses her savings to help Baze with the rent for the bar. However, this tends to change as the series progresses as she grows more comfortable around him and Ellen, with Jack telling his son that Lux was always welcome at their house any time. While referring to Baze and Cate by their names, Lux calls him "Gramps", which can be an affectionate indication of respect for who he is. Jack himself softens up around Lux, is impressed with the loyalty she has towards Baze, and seems to be as protective of her as his son, as shown in Stand Taken when he attacks Trey Gilbert before Baze upon hearing that he had attacked and raped his granddaughter. Both Jack and Ellen proudly attend Lux's high-school graduation. * Ellen: 'Lux is comfortable with Ellen, who had liked her from the first moment she met her. Ellen accepted her and opened her heart to her outright. She was very excited to finally have a granddaughter, in spite of the way she was conceived. Ellen is also thrilled that Lux is a blonde like she is; something she referred to upon meeting her. It is presumed that they have a very good grandmother/granddaughter relationship. *'Laverne: 'While Lux does get along with Laverne and loves her, she does not seem to interact with her maternal grandmother as much as she does with her dad's family. (Perhaps this is partially due to the fact that Lux isn't around Laverne as much as she is around Jack and Ellen) Laverne's come-on-strong nature also unnerved Lux upon first meeting her. Unlike Baze's dad, she calls Laverne by her first name when referring to her. Although Lux doesn't know it, it was Laverne's idea that Cate give up Lux for adoption when she was born. Nonetheless, Laverne does show her love for Lux by finding her while she gets lost at a music festival. It is also notable that neither Laverne nor Abby attend her graduation. *'Abby: Lux has very little contact with her aunt, for the same reasons she has little contact with Laverne. At one time, Lux caught her in bed with her dad and that made her angry at Baze. Abby also thought of Lux as an issue when she was born. She felt that when Cate got pregnant with Lux, her relationship with her sister became more of a rivalry. However, Abby does love Lux, and she loves her aunt in return. Abby, like her mother, wasn't at Lux's graduation. *'Math: '''Math liked Lux from the first moment he met her. Although he is not related to her, Lux sometimes turns to him for solid advice. He is a good friend to her, seeing him as kind of an uncle, since he lives with her father. Math was there for Lux when she was bullied by other students as well. As a teacher at the school she attends (a school where both he and Lux's parents attended as well), he also becomes her tutor giving her much needed help with her studies. He was the one who asked her to speak at her graduation. He and his wife, Alice, Cate's best friend, still maintain a presence in her life. *'Jamie: Jamie sees Lux as the reason that Baze isn't dating anymore and being the bachelor he used to be. He considers Lux a friend and understands that she is a huge part of Baze's life, and that Baze loves her very dearly. *'''Bug: Is Lux's first boyfriend. They started dating two years before the series begins. Lux had a plan to move in with him after getting emancipated. Her parents initially weren't very supportive of their relationship. However, they later grew to be okay with their relationship. Things got rough between the two after bug proposed. To which Lux initially accepted, but later feeling that they were too young. After she decides to break off the engagement, bug leaves in a rage and the two break up. They try to reconcile things after bug returns to town. They eventually end their relationship for good when Lux realizes he isn't the one for her. *'Jones:' Jones is Lux's current boyfriend. Although the two showed interest in each other initially even going to winter formal together, they just became friends because Jones started dating Natasha Siviac. They got together in their later high school years, as seen in the epilogue. *'Eric:' Eric is Lux's ex-boyfriend, he was also a teacher at her school. They first met when Lux was supervising the bar and Eric walks in. He offers to take her to the ocean, after she tells him she's never been. On their way the car breaks down, and the two bond after waiting. They see each other again at school, where they realize their age gap. They begin to date in secret. After Lux' testifies in court about her former foster-father's sexual abuse towards her. Eric begins to feel guilty about sneaking around with a teenage girl. He turns himself in, and leaves town after being threatened by Lux's parents. *'Tasha:' Natasha is Lux's best-friend. They first met when they were both at the Sunnyvale home. They connected instantly after Lux help Tasha. They have remained best-friends ever since despite having a few bumps and bruises. Appearances Season 1 *Pilot *Home Inspected *Rent Uncollected *Bong Intercepted *Turtle Undefeated *Truth Unrevealed *Crisis Unaverted *Bride Unbridled *Formal Reformed *Family Therapized *Storm Weathered *Father Unfigured *Love Unexpected Season 2 *Ocean Uncharted *Parents Unemployed *Criminal Incriminated *Team Rebounded *Music Faced *Honeymoon Interrupted *Camp Grounded *Plumber Cracked *Homecoming Crashed *Thanks Ungiven *Stand Taken *Teacher Schooled *Affair Remembered Name *'Lux:' Is a gender neutral given name. It is derived from Latin lux meaning "light". Lux stated that she was named so by a nurse because she was a blonde haired girl from two dark haired parents. *'Cassidy:' Is an Irish surname. Derived from the Gaelic Ó Caiside meaning "descendent of Caiside". Caiside is a given name meaning "curly haired" from Gaelic cas. Trivia *Creator Liz Tigelaar came across the name Lux while reading the novel The Virgin Suicides. Tigelaar used the name in a pilot she wrote which did not get picked up. She then decided to use the name for Life Unexpected. Gallery Category:Characters Category:Cassidy family Category:Bazile family Relationships